North Yorkshire teachers balloted again over strike action
It's after members of the National Education rejected the latest pay offer
There could be more disruption to North Yorkshire schools as teachers are once again asked to vote on strike action.
The National Education union will start balloting their members today after rejecting the Government's latest pay deal.
Paul Grist is a secondary teacher in Knaresborough and says any rise can't come out of schools existing budget: "I already don't have text books which I give to students, that's gone. What we will be looking at is higher class sizes, the loss of teaching assistants, we simply won't have the specialist staff to be able to provide for kids education. School budgets are absolutely decimated, it's impossible to imagine that schools can afford to fund a pay rise for teachers."
The ballot will open on today Monday 15 May 2023 and close on Friday 28 July.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We have made a fair and reasonable teacher pay offer to the unions, which recognises teachers' hard work and commitment.
"Next year, school funding will be at its highest level in history - per pupil, in real terms.
"We know schools are facing increased costs like energy and staffing, and are providing an extra £2 billion in each of the next two years to cover those costs. As a result, school funding is set to rise faster than forecast inflation in both 2023/24 and 2024/25."